February 14, 2011
Ulrich Kortz, Professor of Chemistry at Jacobs University, and his team report the synthesis of a novel, discrete noble metal-oxide, containing a record number of 22 palladium atoms, as well as two central copper ions. In addition to its high catalytic potential, this {Cu2Pd22} cluster compound also exhibits very unusual intramolecular magnetic interactions. The study, which has now been published as a “Very Important Paper” in the Angewandte Chemie International Edition (DOI: 10.1002/anie.201006734), opens new perspectives for a better understanding of noble-metal particulate based oxidation catalysis as well as intramolecular magnetic phenomena of importance in materials and life sciences.